Sony tries to reclaim premium brand glory with $1,120 Walkman

by Steve Blum • ,

The high resolution NW-ZX2 Walkman introduced by Sony yesterday will sell well enough at $1,120, but its purpose isn’t to drive revenue.

It’s a strategic brand positioning move. It’ll be bought by audiophiles, but the news is that Sony’s trying to position itself for high end mobile audio. Sony’s premium reputation has all but disappeared, and the high resolution Walkman is part of the effort to reclaim it that began last year.